Category Archives: Politics

2:00PM Water Cooler Special: Reader Report from the Field on Biden in New Hampshire (and It’s Ugly. Very Ugly. Come ON, Man)

Alert reader Petal attended a Biden rally and took careful notes from the second row.

Wolf Richter: World Trade Skids for First Time Since Financial Crisis

Exports by China, Japan, and Eurozone under pressure — in part because of globally weak demand for new vehicles, which transcends the trade war.

Trump’s China Trade War Gaslighting: Will There Evah Be a Deal?

Why the US and China are likely to remain at loggerheads.

The Amazon is Burning at a Record Rate

This Real News Network interview with Amazon Watch’s Christian Poirier discusses Bolsonaro’s policies that prioritize agribusiness over people – especially indigenous people.

Italy’s Right-Wing Government Collapses – Will the Next One Be Better?

The odd marriage of Lega Nord and Five Star held up longer than expected, but Italy is about to get a new government. How might that work out?

Influential CalPERS Beneficiaries Charge Sacramento Bee With Biased Coverage

The sad decline of the Sacramento Bee, as demonstrated through its one-sided CalPERS reporting.

Cheerleading for Austerity

Readying austerity talk just in time to condition voters for 2020.

Trump Never Had a Grand Strategy for China: They Were Just Tariff Tantrums

Trump’s tariff strategy is obviously incoherent, but other approaches like anti-trust to improve the US trade’s position are sorely wanting.

CalPERS Engineering Board Resignation: Underhanded, Dishonest Plans to Cut Investment Meetings of Poorly Performing Fund by More Than 50%, Shrink Investment Committee

The first of a two-part series describing the process and substance with which CalPERS staff is trying to engineer a de facto resignation of its board.

CalPERS Engineering Board Resignation: “Attempted Coup” via Unconstitutional, Fiduciary-Duty-Violating “Code of Conduct”

Just when you think CalPERS can’t sink any lower, it manages to outdo itself, this time, with an illegal governance monstrosity masquerading a code of conduct.

CalPERS Board Member Theresa Taylor Breached Confidentiality, Board Engaged in Apparent Criminal Violations of Open Meeting Law in Attacks on Pro-Transparency Board Membrs

CalPERS has managed to outdo itself, in a predictably bad way.

De-Facto Annexation of Kashmir Means India as a Secular State is Ending

Some of the implications of India’s annexation of Kashmir.

Who Will Pay for the Huge Costs of Holding Back Rising Seas?

Combatting rising seas is a big ticket item, and one beyond the meane even of prosperous cities.